SCOTT ARFIELD says Rangers' semi-final defeat to Hibernian on Sunday was "horrific" as he admitted that standards of the Ibrox outfit are dropping.

The Scottish Premiership champions put in a lacklustre display against Jack Ross's outfit and as a result were defeated 3-1.

Martin Boyle grabbed a hattrick, while Arfield netted a consolation strike just before half-time.

Defensive errors were rife throughout the Gers performance and Arfield insists he and his teammates have to improve quickly.

He said: "It's a terrible result for everyone - fans, players and staff. You can't sugarcoat it. We are in a semi-final and we are losing 3-0 in 35-40 minutes.

"That's not good enough, collectively and in individual standards. It was a horrific day.

"There are probably a number of reasons when you analyse it. The overall feeling is probably our standards are dropping.

"We aren't defending as well as we have been for a number of weeks now - as a team. Individually and collectively, if you drop your standards ten per cent in any competition you will get found out.

"We got exactly what we deserved and there are no excuses on our behalf."

Rangers now begin a new era with Giovanni Van Bronckhorst taking charge of the team this week after Steven Gerrard's departure to Aston Villa.

Arfield hopes the arrival of the Dutch manager will have a positive impact on the Ibrox squad.

He added: "Probably the only saving grace in this whole thing is the new manager comes in and starts his tenure.

"That gives us a wee lift and then we have a massive game on Thursday.

"That feels a long way away at the moment but the beauty of being in these competitions is you don't need to wait a week for a game.

"We have a big one on Thursday and hopefully we can put that right."